Introduction
Evidently, since the beginning of the transition from analog to digital media society, people have become more productive. The transition is an improvement that has uplifted not only the music industry but also all sectors of the economy. This is because; the transformative potential presented by the so-called “digital moment” cannot be underestimated. It has created the platform for all members of the society to express their concerns, share information effectively and conveniently as well as interact with each other in the best possible way. However, criticism suggests that the “digital moment” has increasingly made information to be free. This has come at a cost since intellectual property, copyright, privacy and security of information no longer make sense. Based on the book entitled “Copyrights and Copywrongs” as well as the film “The Internet's Own Boy” this paper provides a reaction on how the “digital moment” wants information in the current generation to be free.
Discussion
As per the chapter reading, Herbie Hancock faced criticism when he began initiating the effort to synthesize musical instrumentation from the traditional analog methods to the digital features. During the 1970’s, keyboard among other musical instruments were analog equipment (Vaidhyanathan 150). It means that such instruments were not installed with high-power performance computerized gadgets. As a result, the music industry had few musicians as only experts on the analog instruments dominated the entire sector. It was thought to be a great talent for one to play such instruments. An individual had to learn the hardest way before they find success in music. However, Hancock saw the need to revolutionize the industry. It was such a time that through hard work, he led the transition to electronic music. Therefore, Herbie Hancock was among the many individuals who saw the gap that could easily be filled through the extent of making information to be free for everyone.
On the other hand, the documentary “The Internet’s Own Boy” is a perfect example of a story plot showing a development of a legal struggle due to information access issues (Swartz 1). The film is Aaron Swartz’s narration showing the importance of intellectual property rights as well as copyrights. In the film, Swartz co-founded the Reddit – a program that utilizes RSS protocol that helped Internet users to access information. It was a breakthrough for many users as they would get access to information of different scope including the sensitive or other private protected data that is normally unavailable to the public. The legal tussles deteriorated Swartz’s effort on the basis that his move was purely too much of an aggressive approach to accessing information. It meant that privacy and copyrights issues reigned over the public need to access information freely.
Also, at any given time, I would condemn Swartz’s legal struggle since I disagree with the idea that information should be put completely private. I believe that a civilized society should have more choices than the limitations. To some extent, Swartz opened the opportunities for many people since he led the way for human being to discover what they did not know. In such a way, people were able to realize new things and utilize their talents to make their lives better. This could not be achieved any time soon if intellectual copyrights, privacy and excessive control of information is practiced at full strength. It could only mean one thing; that is, locking out people from the heights of human empowerment hence freezing their true potential.
Conclusion
As discussed above, it is my belief that the role of the media society should be to empower the world’s generation in an effective way. That is what Hancock stood and fought for during the oppressive days. Even though it is aimed at protecting individual’s innovativeness, excessive control of information does not make human life better. Instead, more innovation, creation of more opportunities and effective utilization of resources is achieved when people are allowed to get information freely. However, it does not mean that there should not be limits to the extent of information access. The adopted approach should clearly identify what is considered as “private” that requires copyright protection while the rest of the “public information” to be made available to the general public for the purpose of human empowerment. In such a manner, the world would be the perfect and ideal place for everyone (Collins 17).
Works Cited
Collins, Heidi. Corporate Portals: Revolutionizing Information Access to Increase Productivity and Drive the Bottom Line. New York: AMACOM, 2001. Print.
Swartz, Aaron. "The Internet's Own Boy: The Story of Aaron Swartz (CC Available)." YouTube. N.p., 29 July 2014. Web. 26 Mar. 2016.
Vaidhyanathan, Siva. Copyrights and Copywrongs: The Rise of Intellectual Property and How It Threatens Creativity. New York: New York UP, 2001. Print.
